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Clinton Board of Finance Member Resigns, Citing Harassment

Clinton Board of Finance member Valerie Nye resigned on Aug. 24 after claims that she had been harassed by an employee in the town assessor’s office.

According to a formal complaint filed with the first selectman’s office by the law firm Sullivan Heiser & Sweeney on Nye’s behalf, Clinton Assessor’s Office clerk Andrea Woliver contacted Wesleyan University, where Nye is employed in the finance office, to request salary information about Nye as well as make negative comments suggesting that Nye does not support town employees or believe they are deserving of wage increases.

According to the complaint, the Wesleyan employee who took the call stated that the woman on the phone identified herself only as “Andrea.” The employee was able to ascertain Woliver’s identity using caller ID and a Google search, which confirmed that the call originated from the Town of Clinton Assessor’s office.

“…[T]he telephone contact was personally motivated and it was undertaken in order to threaten and/or hurt Mrs. Nye,” the formal complaint states, adding that Woliver used town facilities, including the assessor’s office and phone, “in order to make Mrs. Nye appear bad in the eyes of her employer.”

The complaint urged the first selectman’s office to discipline Woliver “up to and including termination of her employment” for “interfering with another’s employment and undertaking conduct designed to hurt another.”

First Selectman Willie Fritz noted that Nye’s resignation from the Board of Finance, a voluntary position, was a loss for the town.

“She was a breath of fresh air.”

Woliver is still employed with the assessor’s office.

Regarding disciplinary action against her, Fritz commented that she has been “disciplined to the extent allowed by the union’s collective bargaining agreement.”